Secret Cinema: 28 Days Later

Prepare yourself for a brand-new horror experience. Secret Cinema Presents is bringing Danny Boyle’s 2002 British cult classic, 28 Days Later, to life. When Jim (Cillian Murphy), wakes from a coma to discover a deadly virus has infected London and society has all but collapsed, he must fight for survival in a world that has been torn apart by the infected.

Expect a fully immersive, cinematic experience that will bring you into the heart of a post-apocalyptic world. The event will run for 5 hours, and as well as a themed screening of the film, the audience will be taken into a fictional world, with actors, epic sets and interactive experiences that will give you the chance to live the horror for real.

When Secret Cinema take on a project they do it big, and 28 Days Later was no exception. Set in a huge abandoned factory just outside London the setting was perfect for the tone of the film.

As huge fans of Danny Boyles film we had high hopes for the experience, and Secret Cinema hit almost all of the marks, but it definitely felt like an experience made for the masses who had never seen the film and not the die hard fans.

On booking we were given a a costume requirement, and we would not be admitted without this, we think this is fantastic and loved seeing hundreds of people all on their way to the experience in full doctors scrubs and masks.

The experience itself was fast paced and jumped around from scene to scene from the movie, the introduction set the tone nicely, leading us to a mad dash to escape the infected, this was through the factory itself. Running past some of the themed rooms was fantastic as we only glimpsed in briefly, but each was fully themed and looked amazing. The introduction of pounding techno music in our opinion took away from the run, but was clearly done to mask the sounds of groups in different areas.

The iconic trolley mountain was recreated and mixed with the church scene from the movie, this particular section looked great but was let down by the actor who, through no fault of his own delivered a strange confused script that felt out of place.

Heading through the flat recreated from the movie and into the ‘waiting area’ the theming was movie quality and there was almost too much detail to take in. Women were given special treatment by the soldiers why the men were directed to a military workout program. The workout program was terrible and felt like a time filler and really did not work.

Finishing up the experience we were moved into the actual cinema area, which looked incredible with the screens suspended over hundreds of camp beds. Actors roamed the arena during the movie and played out scenes from the film itself, the made for a totally unique experience and show that Secret Cinema really are at the top of their game when it comes to the ‘immersive’ cinema experience.